


Heart of the Cavalry

by CharmStone127



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 12:03:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10921443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmStone127/pseuds/CharmStone127
Summary: Agent May. The Cavalry. The beautiful warrior, with a heart of ice.At least, that's what everyone thinks.The truth is that Melinda May does have a heart, but one she keeps well hidden.





	Heart of the Cavalry

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to StudioCapsicum for being my beta on this one!

Melinda May was not a woman who was easily scared. She never had been, and since Bahrain, she had only hardened her mental walls. It took a lot to rattle her, let alone make her truly afraid. But that’s not to say she was a statue.

Despite what people thought of her, she was still human and not immune to fear. She knew only too well what fear was and though life had certainly given her perspective, she still knew what it was to be afraid. Terrified, even. And that was largely due to one person; Phil Coulson.

He had been her best friend for longer than she cared to remember and the thought of losing him was one that Melinda couldn’t even bear to entertain. When she’d heard the news that he was dead, it had been first time she had broken down on the outside since Bahrain. When she had been told days later that he was alive, she didn’t care why or how; of course some small part of her did wonder, but she was so overcome with relief that such concerns were drowned out.

They had their issues over the years,  secrets testing their trust in one another on more than one occasion , but ultimately they knew that if push came to shove, they would have each other’s backs. They always had, and they always would.

Perhaps that was the reason she was so scared of the way she felt. Though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly when her feelings for him had grown beyond friendship, she knew with a sad certainty that they had done exactly that.

Part of her longed to tell him, to see if the feelings were mutual. Sometimes she would allow herself to dream of them being together, to imagine that they could live a life less complicated than the one they did. It was when she had these dreams that a smile would grace her face as she slept.

But another, much stronger part of her, held her back. She knew crossing that line would be irreversible, that admitting how she felt would change things whether or not he felt the same. Even if he did by some cursed miracle reciprocate, she knew that there was no guarantee things would work out between them.

One thing she knew for certain was that one way or another, things would be different, perhaps not for the better. Though it was hell to live not knowing, it was a much kinder hell than the one she would be in if she lost him. For that reason, she kept her feelings to herself. She took a lot of risks in life, but that was one risk she could not afford to take.


End file.
